I always get emotional when it gets close to the girls' gotcha days and spend a lot of time looking back over old pictures of the girls, of our trips, and reminisce about the past years. This week has been no different as we prepare to celebrate 2 years as a family with Ella Bella. We are blessed to have an entire album of early photos of Ella right down to the very first picture of Ella taken a few days after her birthday.
Look at this sweet girl!! This picture pulls at my heart because I can't imagine the pain going through her birth mama as she made the most difficult choice of her life. I pray that she is well and I pray that she somehow she knows that Ella is well and so loved!
I mean seriously?!! Look how happy she is! This picture makes me so happy to know that she was loved and well cared for long before she joined our family and at the same time so sad for her foster family who unselfishly loved her and then allowed her to join her forever family. Oh, how their hearts must ache for Ella.
Our first hour with our scared, sad baby girl. I love this picture of Ella in her Baba's arms and there she would stay for several days without cease.
Our first Ella smiles! Heart exploded!!!
So, now that we've taken a trip down memory lane and I've shed a lot of tears; let's get to Ella's 2 year list! My goodness the memories and joy you've given us over the last 2 years!!
1. You are done with daycare! You loved daycare and did really well there but it's time for the next step. You are definitely handling this better than your mama!! So for summer it's day camp with your big sister and then Preschool at Fullerton next year. You're ready and will do so well in school.
2. Your laugh is the best sound in the world!! I really wish I could bottle it up and keep it forever. I especially love when you get tickled and the laughs just roll and roll. You are a sweetie and we love to see you so full of joy!
3. You continue to work so hard is speech therapy. During the school year we go twice weekly to the school where you meet with Miss Lindsey and 3 other girls for therapy. Miss Lindsey is so creative and you girls play games together and work on your speech strategies together. You talk all the time anymore and we understand most of what you say. But you continue to be so patient and now when we have a hard time understanding we make you say the work correctly several times after we figure it out. You are so great at mimicking and you try really hard to place your tongue in the correct place.
4. With all that talking we hear from you we now know that we have a future lawyer on our hands. You always have a reason why you need that snack or why you should be allowed to do this or why we shouldn't go here...and honestly most of the time it's a decent reason. Even though you don't always need to know that right now. That will work while you're 4 but my goodness are we going to have our work cut out for us in the future!!
5. This summer you've started your first swim lessons. You are far more comfortable in the water then you were initially but we still have some work to do. Which is what's great about you having a swimming instructor instead of mom and dad; you can't say no to her as much! She even got you to put your head under the water during the first class! We've worked forever on this. Even in the bathtub you freak if you get water in your face. We have big hopes for this but are so proud of the progress you're making.
6. Your best buddy is absolutely your sister Ava. You love hanging with her, copying her, having sleep overs, and pretty much you just think she's top dog! I can't say I mind that at all :) In daycare you also made a great friend in a girl named MacKenzie "Kenzie". They're so cute together. Hugs when they see each other and hugs and kisses when they say good bye. Love these young friendships and pray they last for a long time.
7. You are brave! Too brave sometimes!! Jumping, climbing high, running ahead, and exploring this big, beautiful world for yourself. Luckily for me you can't get too far away, too quickly...yet!!
8. You are also ornery! This has definitely been a theme since we met you ;) . And I don't see it changing anytime soon. You absolutely love to push buttons...in fact I think it's one of your hobbies!! You just love to see exactly what you can get away with. You push teachers, coaches, your sister, and definitely your parents! Some days I have a love/hate relationship with this attitude but mostly I love it!!
9. You are funny!! You come up with the most random sayings and continually crack me up!! One of my favorite sayings is " it's not that tasty". Now unfortunately that sometimes comes as a result of my cooking but she's always honest! You are a pro at making funny faces and I love your laugh when you are satisfied with the reaction you get as a result.
10. Singing! You have developed a love of singing over the last year and with your speech coming along you've become a good singer! Your fav song right now are "Can't Stop this Feeling" and you definitely have the dance moves to match. I think one of my favorite things to do recently is to listen to you and Ava sing songs in the back seat as we drive to school.
